The pharmaceutical oligopoly wrings every drop of profit it can out of selling insulin to the developed world but gives minimal support to "risky" markets in poorer countries. New competitors are squeezed out by economies of scale, or never manage to overcome the barriers to entry.

More than 50 million people cannot afford life-saving insulin treatment.

Photo: supplied

But scientists are challenging the status quo through something known as the Open Science initiative. This movement is relatively new, though one could argue the idea dates to the late Renaissance "Republic of Letters", as the exchange of ideas by letter, paper and pamphlets between the great thinkers of the Age of Enlightenment was known.

Open Science followers want to to break down the paywalls and barriers to knowledge that are erected by academic publishers. Websites such as Sci-Hub distribute free scientific publications (often illegally); there are new tools such as open-source databases that allow everyone to use a technology without someone imposing a legal restriction.

New competitors in the manufacture of insulin are squeezed out by economies of scale.

Photo: Neznam

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In Sydney home-grown adherents of democratic science can be found at BioFoundry, an Open Source lab based in Redfern run by an enigmatic scientist called Meow-Ludo. It is home to one arm of the Open Insulin collaboration, a global grassroots effort to fix the broken insulin market – aiming to provide relief for diabetics and taxpayers alike.

Operating at the Coleman Lab within the University of Sydney, a dedicated team of young researchers have genetically modified bacteria to produce human insulin. By freely providing this nifty piece of engineering to new market entrants, they hope to ease more "generic insulin" manufacturers into the market.

But it doesn't stop there. Insulin supply is an enormous problem, but pales in comparison to the size of the global biopharmaceutical market. BioFoundry plans to set up a central hub for bacteria sharing and research, free from the unnecessary paywalls which prevent the poor from accessing life-saving medicine.

Three-D printed insulin pumps and insulin purification systems. Hepatitis C medication that doesn't cost two years' salary in Africa. Malaria treatment that isn't more expensive than food. The unfettered flow of ideas possible with Open Science can make these possible.

Open science hopes to ease more "generic insulin" manufacturers into the market.

Photo: Fairfax

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In this era of nationalist resurgence, the Open Science movement is a reminder that there is an alternative to the corporate harvesting of profits from our medical industry. And that this is the only way forward for our species.